Traditionally, wine has been decanted before serving to separate the wine from its sediment. Older, heavy-bodied wines accumulate sediment during the aging process. This sediment when mixed with the wine can cause the wine to have a bitter, astringent flavor.
Decanting wine also causes the wine to mix with oxygen. Younger wines often come to life when aerated. The mixture of the wine with oxygen allows the wine to develop, improving its subtlety and complexity. Thus, a younger wine's flavor can become enhanced with aeration.
Proper decanting requires a slow, steady flow to prevent turbulence which will stir up the sediment, clouding the wine. Achieving this slow, steady flow is a skill, requiring patience and attention often left to a Sommelier in a busy restaurant or wine tasting room. An improperly decanted wine may be distasteful or unfit for the level of quality expected and thus wasted. Wine connoisseurs typically understand and appreciate the need for decanting, as well as the interval of time required to properly decant. When preparing to enjoy an expensive wine that has been purchased and aged specifically for an occasion, the decanting is as much a part of the ceremony as is the libation itself.
The use of filters, pumps, and tubing alleviate the need for a server to pour the bottle and maintain the mouth of the bottle in a proper position relative to the mouth of the decanting receptacle, allowing even the unskilled to decant properly. In addition, filters, pumps, and tubing reduce the interval of time required to decant. However, filters, pumps, and tubing in contact with wine are anathema to most fine wine enthusiasts.
A number of products have been developed in an attempt to decant wine. One known product and accompanying method for decanting wine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,421 issued to Morrison on Jul. 30, 2002. Morrison's apparatus includes a pump unit and a fluid withdrawal unit. Also, included is a support unit that is dimensioned to receive a wine bottle in a tilted orientation with the upper portion of the wine bottle at an angle of inclination such that the sediment tends to collect at the lowest point within the peripheral well of the wine bottle. In Morrison's disclosure, the wine is siphoned out of the bottle into a decanting receptacle and the sediment is shifted to a concentrated location away from the fluid withdrawal unit. As such, Morrison's apparatus and method for decanting wine removes almost the entire fluid volume of a bottle of fine vintage wine, while employing the use of a filter, a pump, and tubing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,480 issued to Fischer on Jun. 25, 1991 discloses a decanting apparatus that attempts to automatically transfer the flowable contents of one vessel into another vessel within a short interval of time. Fischer's apparatus includes a carrier in the form of a cradle or balance beam that rocks back and forth in response to the flow of red wine from a wine bottle on one arm of the carrier into a decanting receptacle on the other arm of the carrier. The disclosure also incorporates a candle for illuminating the transfer so that a server can observe the quantity of flowable substance and prevent residue or sediment from being transferred. In Fischer's disclosure, the server nearly empties the entire fluid contents of the first vessel by manually tilting the carrier beyond its further point of inclination while attempting to ensure that no sediment is transferred with the fluid contents of the first vessel into the second vessel.
Reference can also be made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,047 issued on Feb. 25, 1975 to Bersano. In Bersano's disclosure, the wine bottle is supported by a cradle that is pivotally attached to a frame. Shafts rotatably support both the frame and the bottle and provide a point of pivot at a location along the length of the cradle's longitudinal axis. A means for gradually tilting the wine bottle is provided so that a server can manually turn a crank to bring the bottle into its wine pouring position. Throughout the cranking operation and resultant tilting maneuver, the server positions a receiving receptacle to receive the wine by engaging the receiving receptacle to the mouth of the wine bottle. With the pivot point located along the length of the cradle's longitudinal axis, the neck and mouth of the bottle are forced in a downward direction during the cranking operation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,047 further discloses a means for projecting a beam of light through the neck of the wine bottle so that the server can observe if sediment is being poured with the wine during the decanting operation.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus for decanting wine which controls the rate of pour of the wine and the tilt of the wine bottle in a manner which leaves the sediment in the bottle without requiring skill and constant attention from the server. Such an apparatus must be of relatively straightforward, compact design and construction to maximize its automatic operation, while employing a precise pour to transfer nearly the entire fluid content of the bottle. The wine bottle must be positioned and steadied during the tilting actuation so that in its final position of inclination the sediment remains in the bottle. The decanting operation must be achieved hands-free, without having to attend to the receiving receptacle and the repositioning thereof, as the wine is poured from the bottle into the receiving receptacle. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to various types of wine decanting apparatuses, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such apparatuses, and in this respect, the present invention addresses the need and interest. None of the known disclosures are believed to detract from the described and claimed embodiments of the present invention.